Spout for a pouch

ABSTRACT

A spout for a pouch includes a body integrally and fixedly connected with the pouch via a joint and having an outlet through which contents are discharged, a sealing end tube integrally formed with the outlet via a thin and breakable sheet portion so as to block the outlet, a cap spirally coupled with the body so as to cover and protect the sealing end tube, and a breaking means for opening the sealing end tube only upon opening of the cap such that the breakable portion is forcedly broken from the outlet.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates, in general, to a spout for a pouch in which a cap is spirally combined with a body and, more particularly, to a spout for a pouch in which a sealing end tube, which is integrally formed with a body for blocking an outlet of the body, is safely protected by the cap when a product is distributed and is naturally removed from the outlet when the cap is manipulated and opened.

2. Description of the Related Art

As is well known in the art, a spout is generally used on a pouch in order to safely seal and discharge contents contained in the pouch. Such a spout includes a body having an outlet and a joint, which is fused onto the pouch, and a cap which is combined with the body in a screw-coupled manner or a one-touch manner in order to close the outlet. Further, according to the use (high or low temperature sterilization), an aluminum sheet may be attached to or a rib-like sealing portion, which is provided inside the cap, may be inserted into the outlet so as to seal and block the outlet.

Such a conventional spout for a pouch is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2. FIGS. 1A and 1B show a spout suitable for high temperature sterilization, and FIGS. 2A and 2B show a spout suitable for low temperature sterilization.

Specifically, the spout A shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B is configured such that an aluminum sheet 3 is attached onto an upper portion of the outlet 2 of the body 1 and the cap 4 is coupled onto the outlet so as to, even upon high temperature sterilization, keep the constitutional elements stably sealed irrespective of thermal deformation of the elements owing to the high temperature sterilization. The skirt type spout B shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B is configured such that a skirt 5 is removably provided in a lower portion of the cap 4 and a rib 6 is integrally formed inside the cap 4 in order to block the outlet 2, so that the spout is suitable for low temperature sterilization.

However, in the case of the spout using the aluminum sheet, there are the problems of an attaching process being further required and the spout possibly becoming so dirty as to endanger the health because an aluminum sheet is attached using an adhesive, and the contents maybe leaking or deteriorating when a product is distributed owing to a possible error occurring in the attachment or the introduction of external air. Further, in the case of the skirt type spout in which the outlet is blocked by the rib, particularly upon high temperature sterilization, the problem of the sealed portion becoming thermally deformed so that it is impossible to prevent leaking of the contents or the introduction of external air occurs.

Apart from such problems, in the case of the spout A using the aluminum sheet, while the sealing performance is maintained when the contents have not yet been used, once the aluminum sheet is peeled off, although the outlet is sealed using the cap 4, a separate sealing means for blocking the outlet 2 is not provided, so that upon continuous and repeated using of the contents, sealing performance cannot still be expected. Also, since it has a structure in which the outlet 2 is opened after decoupling the cap 4 and only then removing the sheet 3, it is impossible to completely prevent intentional forgery and falsification of the contents.

Further, since the skirt type spout B has the structure in which the rib 6 is formed along the inner circumference of the cap 4 and is hermetically coupled into the upper portion of the outlet 2, if the rib 6 is thermally deformed upon high temperature sterilization, the sealing performance of the outlet 2 cannot be ensured. Furthermore, since the forgery-free skirt 5 is separately provided in the lower portion of the cap 4 in order to prevent forgery of the contents, it is very difficult to fabricate the spout, and thus the productivity is naturally degraded.

Meanwhile, in order to solve the above-mentioned problems, a spout structure was proposed in Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-19290 wherein an outlet is provided in a spherical portion with a forming section shaped like e.g. a star or a heart separately provided on an upper surface of the spherical portion by a dotted line. While such a spout structure can solve the problems occurring in the spout shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to some degrees, since a cover for the dotted line is always exposed outside of the body, if the cover is occasionally opened in the distribution of a product, the dotted line is possibly broken so as to reduce the stability of the distribution and handling of a product, which deteriorates reliability of a product.

Therefore, the spout for a pouch according to the prior art has the drawbacks of being separately formed in order to conform to the use of high or low temperature sterilization, of there being a risk of leaking or deterioration of the contents when a product is distributed because it cannot resolve the problem of the outlet having to be blocked, and that even the cover structure, which is breakable from the outlet, can be exposed outside and thus possibly cause it to open owing to the occasional application of external force.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made keeping in mind the above problems occurring in the related art, and the present invention is intended to propose a spout for a pouch: in which a sealing end tube integrally formed with an outlet, through which contents are discharged, is safely protected by a protection cap so as to prevent the sealing end tube from breaking under an external force and resolve problems such as the contents leaking during the distribution of a product or deteriorating the packing stability and quality owing to the introduction of external air; in which the cap is so configured as to be spirally coupled with a body and if a person intends to discharge the contents, it is manipulated to be opened so that the sealing end tube is naturally decoupled from the outlet, thereby furthermore increasing convenience and reliability of the use of a product; and in which a sealing blade is provided in the cap so that the cap is repeatedly reused on the body in a sealed state.

In order to achieve the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a spout for a pouch including: a body integrally and fixedly connected with the pouch via a joint and having an outlet, through which contents are discharged; a sealing end tube integrally formed with the outlet via a thin, breakable sheet portion so as to block the outlet; a cap spirally coupled with the body so as to cover and protect the sealing end tube; and a breaking means for opening the sealing end tube only upon opening of the cap such that the breakable portion is forcedly broken from the outlet.

In an exemplary embodiment, the breaking means may be composed of ratchet pieces and ratchet steps, which are respectively provided corresponding to each other in an outer circumference of the sealing end tube and an inner circumference of the cap, and vice versa.

In an exemplary embodiment, the cap may be further provided with a step portion, which comes into close contact with an upper edge of the outlet of the body, and a sealing blade, which protrudes inside the step portion and comes into elastic and close contact with the upper edge of the outlet, in order to provide sealing performance to the outlet.

In an exemplary embodiment, the sealing blade may extend slantwise downwards from the step portion and may be made thinner as it goes towards the distal end thereof, in order to maintain sealing performance of the outlet stable.

In accordance with the spout for a pouch of the present invention, various effects are provided as follows.

First, since the sealing end tube, which is integrally molded with the body in order to block the outlet, is safely protected by the cap which is spirally coupled with the body, the sealing end tube is prevented from breaking during the distribution of a product as a result of an external force; and since the sealing end tube opens together with the cap opening, so as to break and remove the breakable portion by force from the outlet, the sealing end tube is naturally and easily removed, thereby greatly increasing the convenience of use and packing stability of a product.

Second, since the breaking means has a ratchet piece and ratchet step structure, the cap can be screw-coupled with the body, while the sealing end tube can receive the opening force only upon opening of the cap and thus rotate, thereby providing the effect of enabling screw-coupling and decoupling of the cap for the body.

Third, since the outlet, through which contents are discharged, is blocked by the sealing end tube, which is integrally molded with the body, such that the sealing end cap is broken and removed from the outlet, unless the sealing end tube is intentionally removed, leakage of the convents or introduction of external air via the outlet during the distribution of a product is basically prevented, thereby avoiding the deterioration of the contents.

Fourth, since the sealing end tube for blocking the outlet is integrally formed with the body, the outlet is safely blocked unless the sealing end tube is intentionally removed, so that there is no need for separate forgery-free safety means nor for individual fabrication of a spout to conform to conditions such as high temperature sterilization or low temperature sterilization.

Fifth, since the tensioning sealing blade provided in the cap enables the sealing performance to be kept constant even upon repeated use of the contents, the spout can be continuously and repeatedly used even when the sealing end tube was removed, and since even when broken scraps remain in a very small amount on the breakable portion after the outlet was opened, they are to be pushed into the outlet by the sealing blade, thereby preventing a person from being damaged owing to the broken scraps or not hindering the discharge of the contents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1A is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a sheet type spout structure according to the prior art;

FIG. 1B is an assembled cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a sheet type spout structure according to the prior art;

FIG. 2A is an exploded perspective view schematically illustrating a spout structure according to another embodiment of the prior art;

FIG. 2B is an assembled cross-sectional view schematically illustrating a spout structure according to another embodiment of the prior art;

FIG. 3 is a front view illustrating an example of a spout assembled with a pouch according to the present invention;

FIG. 4A is a plan view illustrating a body of the spout according to the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a partially cut-front view illustrating a body of the spout according to the present invention;

FIG. 5A is a front cross-sectional view illustrating the structure of a cap of the spout according to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 5A;

FIG. 6A is a partially-cut front view illustrating the assembled state of the spout according to the present invention;

FIG. 6B is a cross-sectional plan view taken along line D-D of FIG. 6A;

FIG. 7A is a partially-cut front view illustrating a body having a breaking means according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7B is a cross-sectional plan view taken along line E-E of FIG. 7A;

FIG. 8A is a partially-cut front view illustrating a cap having a breaking means according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8B is a cross-sectional plan view taken along line F-F of FIG. 8A;

FIG. 9 is a cross-sectional plan view illustrating the assembled state of the breaking means shown in FIGS. 7 and 8;

FIG. 10 is a partially-cut front view illustrating the state in which the cap and a sealing end tube are decoupled from the body according to the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a partially-cut front view illustrating the state in which the cap is re-coupled with the body after the sealing end tube was removed according to the present invention; and

FIG. 12 is a partially-cut side view illustrating an example of the spout in which a skirt is provided in a lower portion of the cap according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in greater detail to a preferred embodiment of the invention, an example of which is illustrated in the accompanying drawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numerals will be used throughout the drawings and the description to refer to the same or like parts.

FIGS. 3 to 13 illustrate the structure of a spout for a pouch according to the present invention.

As illustrated in the drawings, the spout includes a body 10 which is bonded to a pouch 50, in which in general contents are filled, using e.g. a fusing method, and having an outlet 12 through which the contents are discharged from the pouch, a sealing end tube 30 which is integrally formed with the outlet via a thin and breakable sheet portion 32 so as to block the outlet, and a cap 20 which is spirally coupled with the body 10 so as to cover and protect the sealing end tube 30.

The cap 20 is made to be screw-coupled or spirally-coupled with the body 10, so that the cap and the body are constructed so that their respective engaging structures of screw portions 11 and 21 engage with each other.

The sealing end tube 30 integrally protrudes from an upper portion of the outlet 12 of the body 10 with a thin and breakable sheet portion 32 connected therebetween. A breaking means 40 is also provided on the side of the sealing end tube 30 and the cap 20. When the cap 20 is manipulated to open from the body 19, the breaking means 40 rotates the sealing end tube 30 together with the cap 20, so as to break from the outlet 12 the breakable portion 32 which blocked the outlet 12.

The breaking means 40, as illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5, consists of ratchet pieces 41 and ratchet steps 42, which are respectively provided to correspond to each other in an outer circumference of the sealing end tube 30 and an inner circumference of the cap 20.

The set of ratchet pieces 41 and ratchet steps 42 is configured such that an engaging force is applied in only one direction. For example, when the cap 20 is manipulated to rotate in a clockwise direction in order to close the cap 20, the engaging force is not exerted, and only when it rotates in a counterclockwise direction is the engaging force then exerted (see FIG. 6B).

Of course, although the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42 are illustrated as being provided in series, the number, shape and the like may change in a diversified form so long as their functionality is still maintained.

Meanwhile, the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42, which constitute the breaking means 40, may be arranged in a different way as illustrated in FIGS. 7 and 8. That is, the ratchet pieces 41 may be provided on the inner circumference of the cap 20, and the ratchet steps 42 may be on the outer circumference of the sealing end tube 30, so that they can engage with each other as illustrated in FIG. 9.

Thus, since the breaking means 40 is configured such that the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42 engage with each other when the cap 20 is screw-coupled to the body 10, the engaging force is only applied when the cap 20 is rotated to open.

Specifically, when the cap is rotated in a counterclockwise direction in order to unscrew the cap 20 from the body 10, the sealing end tube 30 is rotated in the same direction together with the cap 20 with the structure of the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42, so that the breakable sheet portion 32 of the sealing end tube 30, which was integrally connected with the upper portion of the outlet 12, is forcedly broken at the same time.

Further, the cap 20 is provided therein with a step portion 22, which comes into close contact with an upper edge 12 a of the outlet 12 of the body 10, and a sealing blade 24, which protrudes inside the step portion 22 and comes into elastic, close contact with the upper edge 12 a of the outlet 12, in order to impart the outlet 12 with sealing performance.

The sealing blade 24 may extend slantwise downwards from the step portion 22 and may be made thinner as it goes towards the distal end thereof, in order to maintain sealing performance of the outlet stable.

Since the sealing blade 24 is elastically operated such that the end thereof elastically contracts inside, it also serves to push the fine breaking scraps, which still remain on the inner circumference of the outlet 12 when the breakable sheet portion 32 of the sealing end tube 30 is removed from the inner circumference of the outlet 12, inside the outlet 12 so that they are not exposed to the outside from the upper portion of the outlet 12.

Thus, the fine breaking scraps, which may exist on the inner circumference of the outlet 12, are pushed inside the outlet 12 by the sealing blade 24 when the cap 20 is coupled onto the body, so that the body or lips of a person are not injured by the scraps when the person drinks the contents with his lips applied to the outlet 12, and the contents are smoothly discharged without hindrance.

Meanwhile, the reason why the breaking scraps may finely exist on the inner circumference of the outlet 12 when the sealing end tube 30 is removed is because although the breakable sheet portion 32 is made from a sheet material, the body 10 is made from polypropylene, which has high temperature resistance so that it becomes suitable for high temperature sterilization. That is, since such a composition has higher tensile strength and lower ductility than polyethylene, which is suitable for low temperature sterilization, the breaking scraps can be finely created during the breaking of the sealing end tube 30.

Then since the remaining breaking scraps are hard and brittle by nature, if they are not treated properly, damage may be caused to the body upon contact with the body. However, according to the present invention, the sealing blade 24 can solve this problem and thus prevent the occurrence of harming the body while providing stable structure.

Reference numeral 15 denotes a joint of the body 10 which is thermally connected to the pouch 50, and reference numeral 26 denotes a non-slip projection which is provided on the outer circumference of the cap.

The use of the spout as constructed as such will now be described.

As illustrated in FIGS. 6A and 6B, when the cap 20 is screw-coupled to the body 10, which is integrally connected with the sealing end tube 30 via the breakable sheet portion 32, the sealing end tube 30 is safely protected by the cap 20. The cap 20 and the body 10 are screw-coupled and assembled with each other by the screw portions 11 and 21 which are provided in the body 10 and the cap 20, respectively.

Since the cap 20 and the body 10 are designed such that when the cap is rotated in a clockwise direction and screw-coupled to the body 10, the ratchet steps 42 do not engage with the ratchet pieces 41 and are screw-coupled with each other without any hindrance. When the screw-coupling is completed, the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42 elastically engage with each other, so that they cannot be naturally decoupled unless a strong force is exerted thereto. Thus, when a product is distributed, the sealing end tube 30 can be safely protected, the leakage of contents or the introduction of external air can be fundamentally prevented, and the anti-forgery of a product can be obtained.

In the assembled state, if the sealing end tube 30, which has blocked the outlet 12, should be removed in order to use the contents from the pouch 50, the cap 20 is manipulated to rotate in a counterclockwise direction. Since the ratchet pieces 41 and the ratchet steps 42 have engaged with each other, upon rotating the cap 20, the sealing end tube 30 also rotates, so that the thin, breakable sheet portion 32 breaks under the force.

Thus, with the compulsive opening force of the cap 20, the cap 20 and the sealing end tube 30 are decoupled from the body 10 as illustrated in FIG. 10, and at the same time, the outlet 12 becomes open. In this state, the contents contained in the pouch 50 can be discharged for use through the open outlet 12.

Meanwhile, the sealing end tube 30 decoupled from the body 10 together with the cap 20 may be used as it is provided in the cap 20, or otherwise it is separated from the cap.

As illustrated in FIG. 11, the cap 20, which was decoupled from the body 10, can be re-coupled to the body 10 in order to block the outlet 12 of the body 10. In this case, the outlet 12 of the body 10 is closed by the step portion 22 and the tensioning sealing blade 24 of the cap 20, the cap 20 can be re-used to block the outlet.

Here, the breaking scraps finely remaining on the inner circumference of the outlet 12 are pushed inside the outlet by the sealing blade 24, so that the contents can be discharged without hindrance and harming the body can be prevented.

Unlike the above-mentioned embodiments, if needed, the cap 20 may be further provided on the lower side with a skirt 27 as illustrated in FIG. 12. The skirt 27 is connected with the cap by means of thin connection pieces 28, such that a lower inner portion thereof is engaged with an engaging piece 16 of the body 10. Thus, upon opening of the cap 20, the skirt 27 is forcedly decoupled from the cap 20 in such a way that an opening piece 27 a thereof goes up a corresponding opening groove 27 b so as to move up the cap so that the thin connection pieces 28 are forcedly separated from the cap 20. Here, the skirt separated from the lower portion of the cap 20 is not removed from the cap 20, but still remains on the body because it is engaged with the engaging piece 16 of the body. With provision of the skirt 27, the degree of opening of the cap can be easily known, and the forgery of a product can also be prevented. Generally, the skirt structure is widely adapted to spouts.

Although a preferred embodiment of the present invention has been described for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. 

1. A spout for a pouch comprising: a body integrally and fixedly connected with the pouch via a joint and having an outlet through which contents are discharged; a sealing end tube integrally formed with the outlet via a thin, breakable sheet portion so as to block the outlet; a cap spirally coupled with the body so as to cover and protect the sealing end tube; and a breaking means for opening the sealing end tube only upon opening of the cap such that the breakable portion is forcedly broken from the outlet.
 2. The spout for a pouch according to claim 1, wherein the breaking means is composed of ratchet pieces and ratchet steps, which are respectively provided to correspond to each other in an outer circumference of the sealing end tube and an inner circumference of the cap, and vice versa.
 3. The spout for a pouch according to claim 2, wherein the cap is further provided with a step portion which comes into close contact with an upper edge of the outlet of the body, and a sealing blade which protrudes inside the step portion and comes into elastic and close contact with the upper edge of the outlet in order to provide sealing performance to the outlet.
 4. The spout for a pouch according to claim 3, wherein the sealing blade extends slantwise downwards from the step portion and is made thinner as it goes towards the distal end thereof, in order to keep the sealing performance of the outlet stable.
 5. The spout for a pouch according to claim 1, wherein the cap is further provided with a step portion which comes into close contact with an upper edge of the outlet of the body, and a sealing blade which protrudes inside the step portion and comes into elastic and close contact with the upper edge of the outlet in order to provide sealing performance to the outlet.
 6. The spout for a pouch according to claim 5, wherein the sealing blade extends slantwise downwards from the step portion and is made thinner as it goes towards the distal end thereof, in order to keep the sealing performance of the outlet stable. 